Incomplete data in a distributed environment

Abstract

Techniques for seeding data among client machines, also referred to as boxes herein, are disclosed. To prevent the data distributed among the boxes from being illegitimately accessed or possessed, according to one aspect of the present invention, at least one of the data segments for a title cached locally in the boxes is made to miss some data portions that are stored separately. Essentially, the data segments are unusable without these data portions. When the title is ordered and an ordering box is authenticated, these data portions are then provided to complement the data segments so that a playback of the title becomes possible.

1 . A method of seeding media content, the method comprising:
 distributing segments representing data of a title among boxes in services, wherein each of the boxes locally caches none, or at least one of the segments, at least one of the segments generated to miss a certain number of data portions such that illegal possession of the segments would not support a playback of the title; and   causing an ordering box to receive the certain number of data portions after the ordering box is authenticated, wherein the ordering box is placed an order for the title and configured to receive the segments from other designated boxes, wherein the data portions are sequentially used to complement the segment so as to support a playback of the title.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 dividing the data of the title into a sequence of data blocks, the sequence of data blocks partitioned into at least the segments, the data blocks in each of the segments are nonconsecutive in a sense that the segments must be multiplexed to recover the data of the title; and   taking out selectively the data portions out of the at least one of the segments.   
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 registering the data portions with the at least one of the segments so that the data portions can be sequentially retrieved to complement the at least one of the segments when needed.   
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the distributing of the segments representing the data of the title comprises:
 converting the segments into data chunks; and   designating an initial set of seeding boxes to receive the data chunks collectively, each of the seeding boxes receiving at least some of the data chunks; and   causing each of the seeding boxes to propagate at least some or all of the received data chunks to a set of the boxes, wherein each of the set of the boxes is caused to recursively propagate its received data chunks to other boxes chosen to continue spreading, if necessary, some or all of the received data chunks among the boxes till each of the boxes in service has received a designated portion of the data chunks.   
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 4 , further comprising recovering one or more of the segments designated for a box to locally cache. 
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving from an ordering box a request including the title; and   responding to the request by sending a response to the ordering box, wherein the response includes a set of identifiers, each identifying another box to supply one of the segments to facilitate a playback of the title in the ordering box, and the data portions that are subsequently used to complement the at least one of the segments as being streamed in to support the playback.   
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein each of the data portions is small in size and can render the at least one of the segments unusable without being complemented into the at least one of the segments. 
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein each of the data portions is registered with the at least one of the segments in terms of time or data size to respective locations thereof in the at least one of the segments. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the data portions are located in a sever and can only be released to one of the boxes when the one of the boxes has been verified to be authenticated. 
     
     
         10 . A system of seeding media content, the system comprising:
 a plurality of boxes configured to provide media services;   a server, located relatively remote to the boxes, configured to distribute segments representing data of a title among the boxes, wherein each of the boxes locally caches none, or at least one of the segments, at least one of the segments generated to miss a certain number of data portions such that illegal possession of the segments would not support a playback of the title; and   causing an ordering box, being one of the boxes, to receive the certain number of data portions after the ordering box is authenticated, wherein the ordering box is placed an order for the title and configured to receive the segments from other designated boxes, wherein the data portions are sequentially used to complement the segment so as to support a playback of the title.   
     
     
         11 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the server is configured to perform operations of:
 dividing the data of the title into a sequence of data blocks, the sequence of data blocks partitioned into at least the segments, the data blocks in each of the segments are nonconsecutive in a sense that the segments must be multiplexed to recover the data of the title; and taking out selectively the data portions out of the at least one of the segments.   
     
     
         12 . The system as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the server includes a storage space to store the data portions that are registered with the at least one of the segments so that the data portions can be sequentially provided to complement the at least one of the segments when needed. 
     
     
         13 . The system as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the distributing of the segments representing the data of the title comprises:
 converting the segments into data chunks; and   designating an initial set of seeding boxes to receive the data chunks collectively, each of the seeding boxes receiving at least some of the data chunks; and   causing each of the seeding boxes to propagate at least some or all of the received data chunks to a set of the boxes, wherein each of the set of the boxes is caused to recursively propagate its received data chunks to other boxes chosen to continue spreading, if necessary, some or all of the received data chunks among the boxes till each of the boxes in service has received a designated portion of the data chunks.   
     
     
         14 . The system as recited in  claim 10 , wherein the server, upon receiving from an ordering box a request including the title, is configured to respond to the request by sending a response to the ordering box, wherein the response includes a set of identifiers, each identifying another box to supply one of the segments to facilitate a playback of the title in the ordering box, and the data portions that are subsequently used to complement the at least one of the segments as being streamed in to support the playback. 
     
     
         15 . The system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein each of the data portions is small in size and can render the at least one of the segments unusable without being complemented into the at least one of the segments. 
     
     
         16 . The system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein each of the data portions is registered with the at least one of the segments in terms of time or data size to respective locations thereof in the at least one of the segments.